When the video starts of a Lowlands tent going wild on Beethoven, Stefan Kirschbaum’s arms get full of goosebumps. The percussionist of the North Netherlands Orchestra (NNO) has had a special weekend.
Kirschbaum calls it “bold” to “play a very classic piece for so many young people”. It is exactly what the NNO did last Saturday in Biddinghuizen. And that worked. Revelers went wild on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, from which the European national anthem originates.
“It is a very long piece. It takes 45 minutes before the very famous piece comes,” says the percussionist. “I don’t think twelve people on the site know the part before it. You often have to hear it in advance if it wants to live. I was afraid that people would run away at some point because it takes too long.”
But that didn’t happen. On the contrary. The festival goers went wild together. “I did get a little emotional when I was standing there,” says Kirschbaum. “The audience that goes so wild, that you have such an influence on it with a piece that is two hundred years old. It seemed as if Beethoven wrote it for that.”
The orchestra member sees that the piece of music is up to date again. “The whole story is about fraternization. The first two parts are just about horror and all the misery in the world,” says Kirschbaum. “We are still a bit concerned about that with the war in Ukraine. Perhaps the piece is more topical than ever at the moment.”
After the planned performance at Lowlands was canceled several times for various reasons, the NNO was now really allowed to go wild. “In terms of audience interaction, this is number 1”, Kirschbaum still enjoys. “As far as I’m concerned, we do it every year. On the other hand, this was so fantastic you have to reminisce about it and you can’t copy it and do it again.”